The intense race for the playoffs is in full gear. Check out the latest situation in the postseason chase. More ...

We said it on NFL Network all last week. Over the top? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

Let's face it: The league has become such a parity party that it's impossible to determine which teams are consistent and which are two-week wonders. We're all lulled into some kind of trance upon seeing back-to-back strong showings from a club, but the reality in 2012 is that the overall quality of play seems to be down. How else do you explain the 12-2 Houston Texans struggling, even in recent wins? Or the Atlanta Falcons getting blasted in Carolina in Week 14? Or the Detroit Lions sporting a not-so-sterling 4-10 mark one year after breaking through at 10-6?

We've been forced to swallow a large gulp of mediocrity. Thus, the eyeball test must apply in spots. So does some simple logic (where applicable).

@harrison_nfl Does this put San Fran in the top spot in your poll since they beat the #1 team in their house?!

Yeppers. Jordan, it has to be that way. And because the San Francisco 49ers jumped all the way from No. 5 to the top spot, some good teams had to drop despite wins. That's life in the Power Rankings at this stage of the season.

With so much shakeup in the top 10, we're prepared for some, uh, "feedback." The dropbox is @Harrison_NFL.

San Francisco earned this spot
Sunday night. Period. The
49ers ran the ball effectively, frustrating
Tom Brady time and again for two and a half quarters. While the
New England Patriots mounted a scintillating comeback, it was at least partially due to the Niners playing soft coverage. More importantly, when
Colin Kaepernick needed to make a play for his club, he did -- hitting
Michael Crabtree on a touchdown pass to seal the deal. Special teams played a huge role, too. The
LaMichael James return to answer the
Patriots' fourth-quarter salvo was a game-changer.

How do you figure the NFL in 2012? The world-beating
New England Patriots -- authors of
59-24,
49-19 and
42-14 blowouts over the past month -- get their arses handed to them for a half. Then they mount a 28-point comeback for the ages. Then they revert back to being the Jags. So much for
their spot atop the Power Rankings -- only lasted seven days. Drops, fumbles and
Aaron Hernandez alligator arms all led to the beautiful showing you saw in the first half. In the end, it was just too big a hole to climb out of.

RANK

4

12-2TEXANS

2

The
Houston Texans take a hit -- despite
the home win -- because of the major statements made by the
49ers and
Falcons. There was nowhere to go but down for a team that has struggled defensively as of late. It appeared
Andrew Luck was mounting another Luck-esque comeback for a little bit, but the
Texans survived. On a related note, there were some pretty brutal hits on the
Indianapolis Colts' rookie quarterback, starting with
Antonio Smith getting Luck right up under the chin in the second quarter. Indy's front line had more than a tinge of trouble with the
Texans' defensive front.

In terms of the
Broncos dropping a spot ... Well, where would you like me to put them? Denver's three losses came against the three teams directly above them in this pecking order. And that other team, the
49ers, just beat
last week's No. 1 squad on its home turf. Not to mention, San Francisco is a more well-rounded group than this one.

RANK

6

10-4PACKERS

Given all of the injuries at the skill positions, the
Green Bay Packers are doing a swell job of mixing and matching personnel groupings.
Jordy Nelson was inactive
in Chicago, leaving
James Jones to be the playmaker in the red zone. Jones has just 51 catches, but a whopping 12 have gone for touchdowns. That's one every 4.3 grabs, far and away the most efficient touchdown-to-reception ratio among the league's more prolific receivers. In fact, he leads the NFL with 12 touchdown catches. James freaking Jones.

Kirk Cousins, you da man.
That's a helluva performance by a rookie playing behind the most famous first-year quarterback this side of
Andrew Luck (or anywhere). Let's see ... 26-of-37 for 329 yards, two touchdowns and a 104.4 passer rating ... on the road ... in your first career start. Give me a break. Great stuff.

The
Baltimore Ravens' defense has had the wood laid to it too often. While talk of the Cam Cameron-less offense was all the rage in the media last week, where's the other unit? Defensive coordinator Dean Pees' group has allowed 29.3 points per outing during this three-game losing streak. The
Redskins and
Broncos both ran the football up and down the field on Baltimore's front seven.

The
Dallas Cowboys lose everybody on defense ... and
beat another team with a winning record. Once again, Dallas played without half its starting defense and still held its opponent in check. In the past two games, the most depleted defense in pro football has allowed just 43 points to
Andy Dalton and
Ben Roethlisberger -- no small feat, with a bunch of spares getting
way too much playing time.
DeMarco Murray isn't gaining big yards, but he's picked up some big first downs and touchdowns since coming back. #hugelift

What a boon it would be to the organization to go through all of the offseason drama, the loss of
Sean Payton, an 0-4 start, months of bad press ... and end up at 8-8. Just sayin'.

RANK

18

6-7-1RAMS

2

At home, three-game win streak in tow, and an opportunity to play some football in December that matters ... So, what did the
St. Louis Rams do?
Burn the pot roast. The run tackling against the
Minnesota Vikings was atrocious. Whether it was bad angles, poor form or lack of effort, no wires are crossed when you read the box score: 212 yards rushing on 24 carries for
Adrian Peterson. Hey, but they held
Toby Gerhart to minus-5 yards on five carries. So that's good.

From 6-4 and pushing for a playoff berth in mid-November to 6-7 and facing a must-win in New Orleans last Sunday. So what did the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers do?
Lose, 41-0. Was the effort there late? That's for the Tampa players to ask themselves. But I can tell you this: From my vantage point,
Josh Freeman not only left a lot of plays on the Superdome turf, he also failed to compete with a sense of urgency.

RANK

21

5-9PANTHERS

4

The
Carolina Panthers have an opportunity to close out the 2012 season on a chunky winning streak, with Oakland and New Orleans remaining. (The
Raiders are the
Raiders, and
the Saints fell in Charlotte earlier this season.) OK, I'm not guaranteeing the
Panthers will roll 'em. But what a solid end this could be to a season that seemed completely lost not long ago. You know, some fans want their 3-9 teams to close the doors, have the players go antiquing with their grandmothers and call it a day at 3-13 -- so as to obtain a premium pick in April's draft. That sucks. Play ball, play hard and win out.

RANK

22

5-9BROWNS

1

It's hard
not to get ticked off by
Cleveland Browns football.
Brandon Weeden made some extremely poor throws Sunday. Or rather, let's call them poor reads. Each pick came courtesy of a linebacker in zone coverage hanging out underneath the
Browns' routes. Basically, they were the kinds of turnovers plenty of mediocre quarterbacks could easily avoid. The second --
snagged by Redskins linebacker London Fletcher -- was woefully underthrown. Was Weeden the reason Cleveland lost? No. But he sure isn't helping this team win.

I was finally getting into a rhythm writing these rankings, so I put Tebow in for a series. It seemed to make perfect sense.

RANK

25

5-9CARDINALS

5

NASA scientists drove over from a 65-year-old UFO hangar in Roswell, N.M., to figure out
how the Arizona Cardinals scored 38 points. They gained 196 yards. You read that right: 196 yards. Arizona went 2-for-12 on third down. The Cards punted nine times and barely held the ball for more than 28 minutes. #unreal

The
Jake Locker Experiment probably requires more time to be properly evaluated, considering his injury woes this season and the fact that
Matt Hasselbeck started all of 2011. Nonetheless, Locker had better work through his inaccuracy issues, or he'll quickly become an athletic and mobile
backup quarterback. It doesn't help that he still doesn't seem to go through his progressions or read the defense, even after two years in the league.

RANK

28

4-10LIONS

2

Man, who
doesn't feel for
Detroit Lions fans right about now? This ballclub -- unlike the
Panthers -- seems to have shut it down.
Losing, 38-10, to a Cardinals team with a historically bad offense is an embarrassment. What a dried, rotten cherry on last season's postseason sundae.
Lions fans, I'm on your side. You deserve better. Much better.

RANK

29

4-10EAGLES

2

The
Philadelphia Eagles put up a fight for a while
last Thursday, with the front four showing signs of life.
Bryce Brown was a disappointment, though; it will be interesting to see what his role is in 2013. Of course, much of that depends on the head coach. Don't be getting all
Chip Kelly'd out. These things certainly don't always play out in the manner in which we anticipate; my guess is, someone nobody is expecting will wind up roaming the sidelines in Philadelphia. #Kotite. Kidding.

Opponents: 383 points this season.
Jacksonville Jaguars: 219. Similar to the members of
Lions Nation, Jacksonville's fans deserve better -- everyone watching on television, as well as the 528 at the game.

RANK

32

2-12CHIEFS

1

What more can you say about the
Kansas City Chiefs? One-for-15 on third- and fourth-down attempts says a lot. So does
getting shut out by a team that had allowed the most points in pro football entering last Sunday. The
Chiefs ran 10 times for 10 yards. Alright, I'll quit typing here. Time to hit Control-Alt-Delete in Kansas City.